Three Times the Charm
by Kurohane Ookami
Summary: They had the misfortune to choose an empty music room as their napping grounds. Now, they're paying the price as a Host Club King demands they join the Ouran Host Club. The only thing is- they're not interested. Not. One. Bit. Undecided pairings, M for language and theme.
1. Chapter 1

The halls of Ouran Academy were quiet. Outside the large windows, the beginnings of Spring could be seen in the blooming cherry blossom trees and the songs of the birds as they flitted by.

The long corridor was very abandoned, any and all students either in class or in one of the many study halls scattered around the campus.

All but three students, that is.

"Ne, where do you think's a good spot to sleep, Ka-chan?" one of the three asked, green eyes half-lidded as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Don't call me that!" another, nearly identical male screeched, mismatched blue and green eyes flashing.

"Will the both of you be quiet? There _are_ classes going on, you know." A third, definitely similar male chimed in, his green eyes reproachful. "And Ryuuji, stop provoking Ryoka. Even though it is pitifully easy."

"_Coming from you, Renji!" _Ryuuji and Ryoka retorted in sync before whirling on one another again, verbal warfare spewing from their lips. Ryuuji's green eyes were vicious behind his black rimmed glasses, and his low ponytail swung as he jabbed a finger at Ryoka.

Ryoka's light brown fringe covered most of his face, but there was still enough to see of his mismatched eyes as he spat back insults at his brother. His hair was getting long, too, almost brushing his shoulders, but he never showed any signs of discomfort at its length.

Sighing, Renji continued on down the hall, knowing quite well that both of his brothers could go on for hours if left to do so, and continued looking for a suitable room that they could nap in. Sure, they probably should be attending class, considering it was their first week of being at Ouran and all they had done so far was go to one class each day before hunting down a good place to have a nap until the end of the day.

"Hmm…" he paused, spiked hair shifting as he noted the music room down a hallway. There were no sounds coming from that direction, and considering that it was well into class time, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to check out the space.

"Renji, wait up!"

There would be no point in stopping; after all, the tell-tale sounds of feet running towards him told the light brown haired male everything he needed to know.

"Music Room #3?" Ryoka queried, breathing lightly as he stopped beside Renji. "Sounds promising."

With that, the male opened the door and poked his head in.

It was a pretty nice room, even if it smelled a little too much like roses, and there were couches scattered around the space. There were high ceilings, too. The only thing that could be considered odd about the room had to be the large number of plants that were pushed against the far wall of the room, but those didn't appear to be of any importance or threat to anyone at the moment.

"Looks good." Ryuuji hummed, walking in like he owned the place and headed over towards the window area, where the majority of the couches were located. "If you need me, I'll be sleeping over here. Let me know when school's over."

"_Only if you let us know." _Ryoka and Renji rolled their eyes, making their way over to the other side of the room.

Within moments, all three of the males were sound asleep on the red couches available in the room.

-;-

"_Waaahhh! INTRUDERS!" _

"_DON'T TOUCH ME!" _

"_AAGGGHHHHH! HE BIT ME! MAMAAAAAAAAA!" _

These were the sorts of things that could be heard echoing down the halls near the end of the day. In the same music room that the three males had decided to take a nap, there was now all hell breaking loose.

The infamous Tamaki Suoh was facing off against an irritable Ryoka, who had been rudely awoken from his sleep by someone who had the gall to attempt to take his schoolbag. Said blond was currently cradling a bruised hand, and Ryoka's teeth were bared. In fact, if he were to have fur, he would most likely appear to be an angry wildcat.

Renji, on the other hand, was watching the events play out next to Mori, the dark haired male and the light haired both raising their brows at their separate counterparts.

Ryuuji had had the misfortune of being woken up by Honey, and now the two of them were staring one another in the eye, neither moving an inch. Ryuuji, was, however, also half asleep, which was probably the reason that he and Honey were having a staring contest in the first place.

"_WHO ARE YOU SCOUNDRELS!? I'LL HAVE YOU ALL HANGED!" _Tamaki yowled, dancing around and gesturing wildly with his uninjured hand.

"_Easy boss. This isn't the middle ages." _Hikaru and Kaoru attempted to sooth, but Tamaki was having none of it. He was working himself up into a right old rant, and soon enough, the three males who were unfortunate enough to pick the wrong room to sleep in were going to be on the receiving end of it.

"Ryoka- back in the cage. You. Blondie. Put down the bag." Renji sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Ryuuji, stop staring. You aren't dreaming."

Tamaki whirled, as if only then remembering that he was also facing two other 'opponents'.

"Why should I?" the blond puffed out his chest, Ryoka's bag still in his hand. Renji raised a brow at the male. He was definitely a bit off his rocker if he thought he was the boss of this room, and besides, it wasn't as if it were a bad thing he was doing, getting him to put down Ryoka's bag.

Renji jutted his jaw out in explanation at said brother, who had changed from sitting on the couch to crouching on the edge.

"Because Ryoka happens to be very territorial about his belongings." He shrugged.

Before Tamaki could put down the bag, Ryoka lunged. Almost instantly, there was the ungodly sound of someone shrieking as if they were being murdered, and both Renji and Mori moved to disentangle their respective counterparts.

"What, may I ask, are you doing in the Host Club's room?" a calm Kyoya asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he stood a bit farther off, just out of reach of the nearest brother, but close enough that he still looked a part of the group. "You three are obviously newcomers, considering that you decided to occupy this room. And by the looks of things, you're the Kizuko triplets."

"Very astute of you." Renji drawled, pulling Ryoka up off the ground and heading over to haul Ryuuji off the couch as well. "I would never have guessed that you could tell we're triplets."

"Thank you. However, the original question still stands. What are you doing in the Host Club's room?" Kyoya inclined his head. "Unless, of course, you are breaking and entering."

"Correct me if I am mistaken, but it's only breaking and entering if the door is locked. Am I not correct? And what do you know, we didn't even take anything." Renji retorted quickly, Ryuuji and Ryoka sharing looks behind their taller brothers back. As if on a signal, the two of them began backing away, just as lightning began flashing between Renji and Kyoya.

"You are correct. However, considering that you were not given _permission_-"

"Oh dear. It's suddenly a crime to walk into an empty classroom and have a _nap_." Renji rolled his eyes again. "Forgive me. I'll have to remember to look up the laws of this Academy if I want to survive, apparently."

"Indeed." Kyoya quirked a brow challengingly.

"Well, nice meeting you and all, but me and Ryoka value our lives, so we'll be going now." Ryuuji laughed nervously, back pressed against the door and hand slowly moving to the handle. "We'll make sure to come and get Renji after he's done tearing you a verbal 'new one'."

Before anyone could make a move to stop them, two of the three triplets darted out of the door and into the hallway, running as though their lives depended on it.

"On that note, I should also be going." Renji hummed, any and all maliciousness around him evaporating. Bending down to pick up Ryoka's schoolbag, he hefted it over his shoulder and began walking out, avoiding Tamaki's excited yelling behind him.

"Oh, and I'll make sure to keep my brothers from coming back." He said dryly at the door, raising the schoolbag in a toast before closing the large door behind him.

"That was odd." Hikaru commented to his twin.

"Couldn't agree with you more, dear brother." Kaoru replied.

"I like them! Can they come back soon?" Honey cheered from his place on Mori's shoulders.

-;-

By the time Haruhi arrived at the music room, all of the various plants and trees had been moved into position and the Host Clubs costumes donned.

"Welcome!" the group of males chimed at her as she opened up the room doors and looked around in slight confusion. A moment later, a toucan landed on top of the poor girl-turned-cross dressing-male-pretender's head and began making a nest out of her hair.

"_You finally made it Haruhi. You're so late." _Hikaru and Kaoru mocked from their positions in the group.

"My calendar may be wrong, but it says it's still early spring." She muttered to herself, toucan in tow, checking the month for herself.

"Do you have a problem with the way we run our club, Haruhi?" Kyoya asked as Tamaki went off about winter and heating systems. In fact, the dark haired male barely even looked at her as he checked his notebook about something. "Be careful what you say; you owe us eight million yen, remember."

Oh yes, she did remember. In fact, Haruhi was sure that the memory of that vase shattering into hundreds of tiny little bits was going to forever be imprinted on the inside of her eyelids.

"Gentlemen don't bundle up in bulky clothing." Tamaki was saying, gesturing with an ornate fan to emphasize his point. Behind him, roses of some kind floated in a background of sorts, making it difficult to tell if there was actually a screen behind the blond or not. "It may be chilly early spring out there in the _real world_, but here in the club we want to surprise our chilly little kittens with a warm tropical paradise."

Haruhi could see where this was going already, and she had a feeling she was not going to like the results of whatever it was.

-;-

"-Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention to you ladies. Next week the Ouran Host Club is sponsoring a party."

"We're throwing a party?" Haruhi asked, half to herself as she looked back at Tamaki. However, another voice from the direction of Hikaru and Kaoru's table had the dark haired girl turning to see what the answer was going to be to that particular question.

"What kind of party is it going to be? Is it going to be formal?" one of Hikaru's customers was saying, her partner nodding along with her words.

"Yes. In fact, we've rented the school's largest hall." Hikaru replied, amber eyes half lidded.

"It's the perfect place for dancing." Kaoru added, chin resting on his clasped hands.

"But I really wanted to spend some alone time with you, Kaoru." Hikaru crooned, pulling his twin's face close, roses fluttering around in the background. Haruhi had to wonder how they managed to pull that kind of stuff off before continuing on her way.

"Don't be upset Hikaru. I know exactly how you feel." Kaoru murmured back, his eyes softening. The two girls seated across from them squealed, hearts bouncing around them in bright pink as they went off into unintelligible squeals of joy.

"Wow. I guess they're more worked up than they usually are." Haruhi found herself thinking aloud as she watched the ridiculous scene.

"Showing some skin proves popular with the ladies." Kyoya replied from next to her as he scribbled something down in his notebook.

"So are you the one that came up with this tropical paradise idea?"

"I have no decision making authority. All of the club's policies have been laid out by the club's King, Tamaki. But, I guess there's no harm in admitting to casually slipping a Bali photobook onto his desk."

_So he's the real brains behind the operation. _Haruhi thought darkly to herself.

-;-

After suffering through an entire afternoon of Tamaki's whining and the various customers that seemed to flock to her table no matter what she did, Haruhi found herself exhausted by the end of the Club session. It didn't help that she had apparently picked up a 'Host Hopper' by the name of Princess Kanako and made Tamaki depressed on top of it all. The end result was Tamaki bringing out a chest and pulling out a gigantic picture of herself when she had long hair and actually looked more like the female gender.

That had resulted in Tamaki running off to Kyoya, spouting off, "_MAMA!_ Haruhi's using those dirty boy words again!"

And that had somehow led to dancing, and that was what Haruhi found herself doing the next day in Music Room #3.

-;-

"So, Renji, you and that Ootori…you two don't like each other much, do you?" Ryuuji hummed as he peered through a pair of binoculars into a nearby tree, keeping an eye on the birds nest that he knew rested there.

"Very nice deduction, Sherlock." Renji huffed, crossing his arms and looking in the other direction at Ryoka, who once again had his nose buried in a book. As if feeling his brother's eyes on him, his mismatched blue and green eyes flickered up for a brief second before flicking back down to his book, leaving Renji at the mercy of Ryuuji.

"I certainly thought so." The long haired triplet sniffed. "Just like I deduced that the party next week is mandatory for all students to attend, male or female. Even though the Host Club is sponsoring it."

"_WHAT!?"_

"Geez, no reason to blow my ears out, Ryoka." Ryuuji calmly stuck a finger in his ear. "I thought you'd have figured it out by now. I know you don't like parties, but I don't see how we can get out of this one easily."

"That just means we'll have to attend." Renji sighed, seating himself on a chair in the large study the three were occupying. "I hope nothing too extravagant is mandatory for us to wear, because otherwise there will be problems."

Ryuuji shook his head.

"No, just formal. Nothing costume themed at all." He assured his brother.

"Good." Renji nodded with finality. "In that case, I'll see the both of you in the morning."

"_Good night, Renji!" _Ryuuji and Ryoka called behind him as he left the room to head up to bed.

"Good night." He returned before closing the study door behind himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning brought three sleepy teenage males to sitting around the pale wood kitchen table, the only sounds being made the sound of toast crunching in between teeth.

"So…there's still one class we haven't been to yet this week." Ryuuji mumbled as he stifled a yawn. His long hair made a partial mane with the way it had ruffled, and without his glasses, the light haired male looked as though he were about to go on a killing spree.

"And which one is that?" Renji yawned.

"World History."

"Ugh." Ryoka groaned, banging his head down on the table. "History."

"Hey, at least you can remember everything after hearing it." Ryuuji protested. "Some of us actually have to make an _effort_."

"That would be me." Renji scowled, earning snickers from both of his shorter brothers. "But hey, what I lack in photographic memory I make up for in height."

"_WE'RE NOT SHORT, DAMNIT!" _Ryuuji and Ryoka snarled. "_WE'RE FIVE FOOT SEVEN!" _

Renji shrugged, leaning back in his seat. His eyes had suddenly gained a brighter glint to them, and subconsciously, the other two of the triplets leaned away from their five foot eleven brother, wondering what they had said to set him off.

"Maybe I should bring Elizabeth with me today." He mused to himself, causing his brother's faces to go blank. Sharing a glance, they both wondered how being short had made Renji go into that particular train of thought.

"I don't care as long as you keep that thing far away from me." Ryoka deadpanned, getting up with his plate and moving over to the sink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get dressed. If you two want to walk with me, I'm leaving in ten minutes."

Ryuuji waved a hand vaguely at Ryoka before turning his attention back to the remaining piece of toast lying on his plate. Renji sighed; shoving the last bite of his own toast into his mouth before grabbing the glass and plate he'd been using and deposited them into the sink before taking his own leave to get dressed. Ryuuji would be fine to finish his breakfast on his own. Besides, it wasn't as if World History was the first class of the day.

-;-

Elizabeth, as she was affectionately named, happened to be a three and a half foot long caramel albino spider ball python that Renji had been given by his parents after discovering both how enigmatic the creatures were and how afraid of them Ryoka happened to be. After several years, the snake was hard pressed to not be around her partner, and Renji preferred keeping her with him most times. Although he hadn't brought her to the Academy yet, due to the fact that he needed to get used to the new surroundings first.

Moving over to the gigantic tank set against one wall, Renji opened the top of the enclosure and held out his arm, smiling affectionately at the reptile as she automatically coiled up his arm. Gently, he pulled back and ran a finger down the top of the python's skull, receiving a soft nudge in return as Elizabeth moved up around his shoulders and coiled her tail loosely around his neck, hanging like a scarf over his white uniform shirt.

"_Renji! Hurry up and get your ass down here! We're leaving!" _

"Coming!" he called back, grabbing his schoolbag and slinging it over his shoulder before exiting his room and closing the door tightly behind him.

-;-

"_KIZUKO!" _

"_Yeah?" _Renji, Ryuuji and Ryoka chimed cheerily back at the teacher standing at the front of the class. _"Something you need, Ms. Okazaki?" _

"Not you two! Tall Kizuko! What is hanging around your neck?"

Renji glanced down for a moment at the content Elizabeth hanging around his neck before looking back to the dark haired teacher with a definite 'I don't know what you're talking about' look.

"Elizabeth." He said simply, flashing a grin.

"_YOU NAMED A SNAKE!?" _

"Well, yeah. She _is_ my pet, you know." He replied, tilting his head to one side and crossing his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blond Tamaki Suoh looking horrified next to Ryoka, and Ryuuji simply shaking his head as he smirked at his triplets' behavior. "Otherwise I'm sure she wouldn't be here right now."

Ms. Okazaki looked torn between grimacing and throwing Renji out of her class for the cheeky remarks he was sending her way, but before she could make a decision, there came a knock on the door. Without a further glance their way, the teacher made her way to the door to answer whoever it was, completely distracted from the topic at hand and successfully leaving the light haired triplets out of the spotlight for the rest of the class.

Smug, Renji leaned back in his seat and rubbed the top of Elizabeth's head, small little hearts popping up around the snake as he did so.

-;-

It turned out that the rest of the week turned out to be the same sort of pattern, once word began to spread that the transfer brothers were definitely a little more strange than the normal part of the population at Ouran Academy. The teachers in the remainder of the classes demanded that the male put his snake away until the end of class, to which said triplet conveniently forgot to follow through with. Personally, he was having the time of his life, being able to terrorize not only Ryoka, but the blond haired moron in their World History class who had happened to meet Ryoka in the wrong situation.

By the time the night of the party rolled around, everyone's attention had been diverted from the new students, however, and refocused on the Host Club. After all, it wasn't hard to forget when there was an entire population of female students fawning over the males in fancy uniform.

"It is so good to see you here tonight, my little lambs." Tamaki began, raising a hand in an elegant gesture. The single spotlight shining down on him had most of the female population wondering what was going to happen next. "The Ouran Host Club would like to bid you…Welcome."

With that, the lights illuminated the hall, and the orchestra began playing a soft melody off to one side. As one, the Host Club took a bow, all of the males clad in varying shades of suits. Renji blinked against the sudden difference in lighting, while Ryoka just huffed and looked like he wanted nothing more than to escape the hell that he called 'party'. Ryuuji, on the other hand, was already weaving through the crowd of women, gaining their attention in his own subtle manner. After all, with his long hair trailing to the small of his back, and his glasses perched primly on the edge of his nose, combined with the simple black and white suit he had chosen to wear, there was almost no chance of someone ignoring him.

"As always, ladies, the Host Club members are here for your entertainment. So we invite you to dance to your heart's content. Based on their dancing skills, one lucky young lady will be chosen as tonight's Queen. The Queen's reward will be a passionate kiss on the cheek from our King." Kyoya stated in a matter-of-fact way, bringing out his hands in a smooth motion.

"Good luck to you…my darlings." Tamaki winked, flicking out a hand, roses floating around in the background. As if on cue, squeals of joy erupted from the crowd of women, and there were a good handful who simply collapsed, hearts leaping from their eyes.

"_Haruhi, show some enthusiasm." _Renji could hear over the sounds of the crowd. Glancing in the direction of the voices, he snorted at the distinctly unimpressed look that the brown haired host in the matching suit was wearing. Obviously Ryoka wasn't alone in the fact that he didn't enjoy these sorts of events.

"Uhh…excuse me? Renji-san…?"

Renji blinked, turning his attention to a small group of girls in brightly colored dresses blushing and muttering furiously to one another. One of them, the ringleader by the looks of things, had gained enough courage to actually step towards him and ask him something, but didn't dare move within a foot of the male.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, already having a feeling he knew what the answer was going to be.

"Would you- Would you care to dance?" the ringleader asked, her cheeks stained a bright red.

Renji internally sighed, but knew he really couldn't say no. He had been raised better than that, after all. He hadn't even brought Elizabeth with him to the party, though God knew he had been sorely tempted to do so in order to scare off the foolish girls who fawned at him from the shadows. Smoothly, he flashed a grin at the girl, holding out his hand to further soothe her.

Hearts flashed in her eyes, and dazedly, she stumbled after him like the lamb that she had been referred to moments before. Rolling his eyes slightly, Renji repressed the urge to sigh once again, instead whirling the love-struck girl around before neatly pulling her close and beginning to dance.

-;-

Ryuuji, on the other hand, was having no problems in avoiding his own little group of lost puppies, considering that he was steadily moving throughout the crowd and politely declining to dance with anyone. Which really only consisted of one poor soul who had managed to build up enough courage to do so. But in the end, she hadn't exactly left heartbroken, considering that Ryuuji had murmured several lines of poetry into her ear before continuing on.

But no; Ryuuji had a target in mind as he watched the brown clad host stand awkwardly to one side. It was igniting the insatiable curiosity that all of the Kizukos possessed, and now was one of the times that he refused to simply ignore it. After all, it wasn't as if he had anything better to do.

-;-

"There she is." Hikaru commented as Mori set the extremely confused Haruhi down on her own two legs again after kidnapping her from the main hall seconds before.

"You didn't have to be so forceful!" she protested hotly, only to blink as a white bag was shoved into her arms.

"Never mind that." Hikaru drawled. "Go get changed."

"Yeah!" Honey cheered, tackling the girl from behind and sending her stumbling through the curtain that was hanging behind her.

"A little accident towards the end of the night would be quite thrilling." Kyoya said, checking his watch. An eager Honey glowed in front of him, small pink flowers hovering around his head. "And remember, Haruhi, there are only twenty minutes remaining before the party's climax. Suzushima is already waiting for you in a classroom across the hall."

"You have to ask him how he feels, okay?" Honey said seriously.

"_Uh, we know this is the Boss' strategy, but this is still kind of unsettling." _The twins chorused as they got to work on Haruhi's makeup.

_So he is a she… _Ryoka thought to himself as he watched through a crack in the door. _How intriguing…_

"Gentlemen, here you all are. What are you doing? The guests are waiting for-"

Tamaki froze in the middle of his sentence as Haruhi stood, turning to face the Host Club King directly. She was wearing a long brown wig to cover her short hair, and a light pink dress hung neatly against her slight curves. The twins' makeup job had been done to perfection, and her dark almond eyes were now framed with long lashes and a pale shade of blush dusted her cheeks.

"_So, what do you think?" _Hikaru and Kaoru asked, identical smug smirks plastered on their faces as they sidled up to Tamaki.

"Wow, you look so cute!"

"My face feels heavy and it's hard to walk in these shoes." The brunette grumbled, tottering past Honey, Kyoya and Mori.

"_Good luck Haruhi!"_ the twins waved as she made her way out into the hall.

Ryoka easily slipped behind one of the ornate statues that decorated the corridor, his mismatched eyes gleaming in the dark as he processed what had just happened. Haruhi, whoever this girl was, was pretending to be a host for some unknown reason. What he really wanted to know now was why.

"I should probably get back to the others." He hummed softly to himself, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking in the other direction down the hall.

-;-

Spotlights snapped on, lighting up the couple as they darted through the cherry blossom trees. Pausing, the pair shielded their eyes, wondering where on earth the light was coming from.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." Tamaki's smooth tone said softly. "It is now time for us to begin the final dance of this evening's festivities."

The doors to the hall opened, and curious partygoers flooded the small balconies that overlooked the grounds below. Among them, Renji and Ryuuji. The two males had been avoiding most of the girls for the evening after the initial start to the evening, and had then proceeded to retreat for their own safety. However, it hadn't deterred the girls to continue, for lack of a better word, stalking them. No, they had persisted, and Renji was now seriously beginning to regret not bringing Elizabeth along for company.

"The last waltz of the night has been chosen by the Host Club for..._this_ couple." Tamaki gestured with a hand in the direction of the Princess Kasuka and Suzushima, who looked as though they didn't quite know what to make of this situation. However, Suzushima gained enough nerve to offer a hand and ask the Princess to dance with him, so things couldn't be all that bad.

"What did I miss?" Ryoka asked as he smoothly slid between his brothers. Ryuuji shrugged nonchalantly, while Renji simply nodded his head in the direction of the now dancing couple.

"Not much, actually."

"Huh. I've got something you should know. Tell you later." The mismatched triplet muttered, waving off the now curious stares he was receiving from his brothers.

"Ah. May this awkward couple be forever blessed!" The blond Host Club leader sighed dreamily, swinging his arms out and nearly taking out poor Haruhi, who looked unamused with the male's usual antics.

"And now we'll announce the Queen of the ball!" Hikaru yelled cheerfully, a banana peel dangling from his hand.

"Congratulations to Princess Kanako Kasukazaki!" Kaoru added, a banana peel also dangling from his hand.

"How much do you want to bet something's going to go wrong here?" Ryuuji murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Renji. Said male tilted his head to one side thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging.

"Twenty."

"You're on."

"And for her reward, a kiss on the cheek from the King!" Hikaru grinned. It didn't go unnoticed by any of the triplets that the banana peels had suddenly disappeared from the twins' hands, but they were focused too much on the looks on everyone else's faces to really be paying attention to what the consequences might be.

"Haruhi Fujioka will stand in for Tamaki!" Kaoru called, facial expression not changing a bit from the cheery grin plastered all over his face.

"_Kyoya did say that a little accident towards the end of the night might be even more thrilling for everyone."_ The twins smirked as both Tamaki's and Haruhi's faces looked horrified.

"There's no way I can kiss her." Ryoka heard Haruhi hiss to the other hosts.

"If you do it we'll cut your debt by one third." Kyoya chimed in casually, writing down something in his notebook.

"Well, it is just a peck on the cheek…"

The supposed male began stepping down the steps towards Kanako, and the girl moved forwards to greet Haruhi.

"Hey! You don't think this is Haru-chan's first kiss, do you?" Honey asked curiously, leaning over the rail.

"What?" Tamaki moaned breathlessly before launching himself through the air. "Wait, Haruhi!"

However, the damage had been done. The banana peels that the twins had earlier slipped onto the stairs came into play, and the King of the Hosts just happened to slip on one, accidentally shoving the two _girls_ together.

The problem was, the peck on the cheek turned into a full on kiss that neither of them had been expecting. Roses bloomed around the pair, and their wide eyes continued to stare at one another for a long moment before jumping away like they'd been electrocuted.

Squeals erupted from the crowd of women watching, and the triplets cracked up at the astonished horror they could see on the Host Club King's face. Money traded hands for a brief moment, and then Renji and Ryuuji were back to laughing at the expense of the eccentric male who had unwittingly caused this embarrassment.

-;-

"Now _that_ was worth coming for." Ryuuji snickered as the triplets walked along the side of the road, all three in the simple black and white suits. However, Ryuuji had unbuttoned his shirt, Ryoka had completely discarded the tie and cuffs, and Renji was carrying his jacket under one arm. "The look on their faces!"

"That one host, Haruhi…isn't actually a man." Ryoka stated calmly. "I was doing some exploring-"

"_Hiding_." Renji coughed.

"_Exploring_." Ryoka snapped before getting back on track, "And I saw her with the hosts. Turns out that she's just dressing up like a host for some reason."

"That's odd. I wonder why." Renji mused, tilting his head back to look up at the sky.

"No idea, but we should find out!" Ryuuji chimed in eagerly before tripping over a crack in the sidewalk and doing a full faceplant into the ground.

"Y'know, I have to wonder how you're usually so good at sneaking up on people…and then you go and do something like this." Ryoka snorted, grabbing his brother by the scruff of his neck and righting him again before continuing on. "You're going to want to try and do something about that if you want to be an assassin or whatever the hell it is you want to do."

"Ah, shut up."

"Why? Did he hit a nerve?"

"_YOU'RE ALL AGAINST ME!" _Ryuuji wailed amid his brothers laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

"You've _got_ to be kidding me." Ryoka muttered to his brothers as he took in the groups of people surrounding them as they walked along the hallway towards their respective building for the coming physical exam. "All of this just for physicals? Couldn't we just get taken out in small groups over the day instead of all at once?"

Ryuuji shrugged, blowing bangs out from behind his glasses before crossing his arms behind his head and glancing over to Renji, who was contentedly rubbing Elizabeth's head with a couple of fingers and completely ignoring the conversations around them. "Hey, Renji. What do you think about all this?"

Renji barely looked up as he let out a sigh and gave his attention fully to Ryuuji. "Honestly?" he asked, tilting his head as the small group of girls walking near them squealed over something.

"Yeah." Ryoka piped up, tilting his head to one side. His fringe temporarily covered one of his mismatched eyes, and behind him, a several other girls squealed.

"Meh. I was sent off to that other private school before. This is nothing."

"Y'know, suddenly I'm a little curious to find out what exactly went on at the last school you went to, Renji." Ryuuji deadpanned, Ryoka nodding in agreement next to him.

"Hey. It wasn't as bad as that one elementary school we went to with Madam Bonise, if that's what you're looking for in terms of answers." Renji replied calmly. "Besides, it's nothing."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro." Ryuuji shook his head.

-;-

"_Welcome, students." _

"…..Okay, I take it back. This is much worse than the other private school." Renji nodded as the two rows of doctors greeted the large group of students that had just entered the large room. "Actually, Madam Bonise."

"I think this tops it." Ryuuji agreed, looking over his glasses at all of the people.

"Definitely tops it." Ryoka corrected.

"Kizuko brothers? Come with me. I'll be your nurse for this afternoon." A younger looking woman came up to them, uniform neatly pressed and smile firmly planted on her face. At seeing Elizabeth, there was a waver to the expression, but other than that, the smile stayed. Renji smiled mildly at the poor girl before beginning to follow her, Ryoka and Ryuji close behind.

"Why are Honey and Mori dressed as doctors?" they heard as they passed by a suspicious pair of doctors in white coats. The fact that they were surrounded by women and looking out of place only meant that they had to be the hosts that the trio had met sometime the previous week.

"Hoo boy." Ryuuji whistled as the woman came to a stop right across the row from the redheaded twins from the Host Club. Both were in the process of undoing their shirts and pulling them off to reveal rather toned chests and slim waists, almost feminine in stature. "Renji, I want _them_ for Christmas."

"With or without a big red bow?" the tallest triplet asked with a small, knowing smirk crossing his features. However, his gaze was also eying up the pair, and for the moment it seemed that Ryoka was the only sane one among them. Rolling his mismatched eyes, the remaining male did as he was directed and began unbuttoning his own shirt so that the nurse could take his chest measurements. Unknown to him, however, there was a decent sized group of girls watching from a distance, and as the shirt came off, hearts burst out of their eyes like fireworks.

Ignoring it and assuming that it was simply something that one of them had said, Ryoka didn't even notice as several of the girls swooned. And of course, that didn't go unnoticed by Kyoya, who jotted something down in his notebook.

"Hey. Morons making goo-goo eyes at the twins. Your turn." Ryoka grumbled as he pulled his shirt back on and easily did up the buttons. "Hurry up, cause I'm starting to get hungry."

"Fine..." Renji sighed, pulling his gaze away from the twins and moving over to the nurse, who uneasily took a step back. Narrowing his eyes slightly at the response he was receiving for Elizabeth, the blond haired male took a step back and gently unwound the python from his neck before pecking her on top of the head and tossing her over his shoulder at the curtain a couple of units down.

The unfortunate Tamaki, who was just pulling back the curtain in his 'Haruhi' disguise, only had a moment of sudden panic before the python landed smack dab in the middle of his face.

"_AAHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! SOMEONE HELP ME! IT'S GONNA EAT ME! MAMAAAAAA!" _Tamaki shrieked, frantically hopping around as Elizabeth curled around his shoulders in a similar manner that she did to Renji. _"HEEEEELLLPPPPPPP!"_

The twins, who were looking on in wide eyed shock, quickly dissolved into hysterics, leaning onto one another for support as they heaved for breath. Hikaru's eyes were watering heavily, while Kaoru was simply turning a rather interesting shade of red in the face as he attempted to suck air into his oxygen deprived lungs.

Kyoya, standing nearby at the back of the crowd, was smirking, his hand pushing his glasses further up his nose as he watched the frantic Tamaki screaming for him to help.

Honey and Mori….well….Honey was giggling and clinging onto Usa-chan, while Mori was as per usual blank faced. Although there could be the smallest glimmer of something that could be amusement in his dark eyes as he approached to help the Host Club King.

Renji, on the other hand, was grinning cheekily as he calmly undid his shirt for the nurse, Ryuuji busy laughing away at the situation as well. It wasn't that much of a surprise that Elizabeth had landed on that fool. He just had something of a sixth sense, if it could be called that. He had a feeling that nothing would happen to Elizabeth if he threw her in that direction, and nothing happened. To her, anyway. The same could not be said for the shrieking blond who was barely able to hold still for the tall and dark haired host who was gently pulling her off of the male.

Humming a merry tune to himself, Renji held out his arms as instructed, and a moment later was given the clear to pull his shirt back on and clean himself up. In fact, it was so well timed that by the time that Mori and Honey approached, he was already holding out his hand for Elizabeth to slither on to.

"Why thank you." He said mildly as the python moved up to rest on his shoulders again. "I was wondering where Elizabeth got off to."

"Eliza…beth?" Honey asked, eyes wide as he tilted his head to one side. A moment later, he brightened, and flowers bounced around his head. "That's so cool~! Takashi, I want one!"

Mori made a noncommittal grunt and gave Renji a look that clearly stated that he knew that it had been purposeful and that he hadn't just lost the snake. There _was_ still that odd glimmer that could have been amusement though, so it was hard to tell if he was being serious about it or not. A moment later, however, and it was hidden as Mori turned and moved back towards the group of hosts further off.

"Renji, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Ryuuji finally panted, leaning on his brother's shoulder and wiping away a couple of tears. "Because Holy Sugarnuts, I love you."

"I know." Renji smirked, patting his shorter triplet on the head, only to be swatted away a moment later as Ryuuji protested about being treated as such in a public place.

Of course, being in a public place definitely had the advantage being given to a certain dark haired host, who looked over his glasses at the trio before jotting something down in his notebook and following the remainder of the hosts out of the room.

-;-

After all was said and done during the entire incident with Yabu the Quack Doctor, Haruhi was completely oblivious to the conversation that was going on next door to the Special Boys Clinic as Kyoya shared his thoughts on the Kizuko triplets to the Host Club.

"The Host Club could seriously benefit from the profits that those three could bring in should we convince them to join."

"_THOSE SCOUNDRELS!? NEVER!"_ Tamaki yowled, recoiling as though he'd been burned.

"_I don't know, Boss. Sempai's got a point_." Hikaru and Kaoru shrugged.

"I like Lizzie-chan." Honey chipped in, flowers bobbing around him as per usual as he cranked up the infamous Honey charm that usually got him anything he wanted from Tamaki. However, it didn't seem to be working this time, as the blond male shuddered and made a break for the nearest corner to vent his woes to himself.

"Lizzie-chan?" Kaoru raised a brow at Honey, who grinned back brightly.

"Ren-chan's snake~!" the cheery third year replied. "She's really pretty. I think Takashi should get me one~!"

"How about no, Honey-sempai." Hikaru deadpanned. "After all- wait. What am I saying? If it makes Boss have that kind of reaction again, I'm all for it."

Kyoya sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. How he managed to put up with all of this people was something that continued to elude him at times like these. They had once again strayed off of the original path of thought that he had even brought up.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat.

As expected, everyone in the room instinctually stiffened; something that had come from the time spent within his presence, no doubt.

"As I was saying…" Kyoya continued as though nothing had happened in the first place. "From my calculations based on the female population, the Kizuko triplets would at the very least double our funds per month from the events alone."

"Wow. That's actually a lot." Hikaru commented, scratching his chin. "Alright, you've got my vote, Sempai. Kaoru?"

"I agree with Hikaru. It would keep Honey-sempai's digestion of all the sweets in the budget, too." Kaoru crossed his arms, leaning into his twin. "Plus, we'd have someone to relate to, considering that we're not the only set of twins and/or triplets in the Academy anymore."

"Alright then. Honey? Mori?" Kyoya turned his gaze on the odd pair, who both nodded. Honey more than Mori, but that was to be expected given their different personalities. That done, the dark haired male turned his attention to the Host Club King, who was currently attempting to grow mushrooms in the corner of the room while a dark cloud of gloom hovered about him.

"Tamaki, it would seem that you are outnumbered."

"_NO! I REFUSE TO LET THOSE ROGUES INTO MY RANKS! WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT SNAKE WIELDING MANIAC WILL DO TO ME IN MY SLEEP!?"_

"Talk about coming out of left field." Hikaru commented dryly to Kaoru, who snickered in reply.

Kyoya sighed before narrowing his eyes and looking over his glasses in that classic look of either extreme disapproval or awe inspiring terror. It was a little hard to tell when it was being leveled at you, considering that either way you were running for the hills before he could kill you.

This time was no different. At feeling the dangerous glare being turned onto him, Tamaki immediately let out a wail and bolted for Mori's leg, where he then latched on like a leech and bawled his heart out into the older male's pant leg.

It wasn't much, but it was a victory.

"Alright then, now that that's settled, it's time to convince them to join the Ouran Academy Host Club."

"_NOOOOOOOOOO!"_


	4. Chapter 4

"Soooo…remind me again why this was on our list of things to do today?" Renji raised a brow, Ryuuji nodding in agreement as they stared at Ryoka.

The mismatched triplet snorted, not looking away from his binoculars as the three of them perched in a rather large tree outside Music Room #3. Ryuuji had made himself completely at home and was currently bobbing his head along to the beat of his music, large headphones making Renji wonder how on earth he could hear anything other than the sound of his music.

The tallest triplet, on the other hand, was also quite comfortable, and the fact that Elizabeth was wrapped around his neck as she usually was only seemed to ensure that fact came across clearly.

"Because I have a feeling I know exactly who that girl was looking for today, and I want to see if my hunch is right." Ryoka replied quietly as he suddenly gagged to one side. "Okay, definitely _did not_ need to see that from blondie, but okay. I can bleach my eyeballs later."

"Anything else going on?" Ryuuji asked curiously, snatching the binoculars from his brother and looking through them. A moment later, a very cat-like smirk appeared on his features, and the other two triplets shared a look. Apparently, someone had caught the attention of their much more relaxed brother. And whoever it was was now going to suffer much affection being showered down upon them until they either managed to kill him or accepted his affection for what it was and got on with life.

"So…who's the one who caught your eye this time, dearest brother?" Ryoka asked slyly, slinging an arm around Ryuuji's shoulders. "You can tell us, you know."

Ryuuji gave Ryoka a deadpan look and handed back the binoculars before adjusting his glasses and leaning back against the branch he was using as a support. Another smirk graced his angular features at Ryoka's disappointed groan, and he stuck out his tongue playfully.

"If I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" he asked innocently, though his body language conveyed everything but. "Go back to stalking the four eyed asshole, Ryoka."

"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME! YOU'RE PHONY!"

As one, all three triplets heads moved in unison to stare at the large windows that graced them with the rather marvelous view of Tamaki getting slapped by a girl.

Unfortunately, after the initial barrage of words, the trio couldn't hear the rest of the rant directed towards the Suoh, but Ryoka was certainly amused with the events. Grinning widely, he had the binoculars back in place and was watching the events unfold with great joy.

Mind, it wasn't until the unknown girl jumped on Suoh's downed body and launched herself at Kyoya that Ryoka allowed himself a dark chuckle.

"So I was right about her after all…" he chuckled, earning a strange look from Renji and Elizabeth, while Ryuuji cackled to himself and clung to the branch for dear life so he didn't plummet back to the ground. It seemed that there was something that both Renji and Ryuuji were missing here, but they didn't quite know what it was. After all, Ryoka was the one who randomly grabbed them and nearly hauled them up the tree on his own.

"Renge there is an Otaku." Ryoka chuckled darkly. "I figured that out today in our History class when she was babbling on about some character or another that she was going to meet and marry. Me, being me, managed to put two and two together and realized that she had to mean one of the students who went here. Of those students, however, the only ones who had any potential of being the center of her affection narrowed down the list to the male populace who occupy that room."

"_Wow…you really did your research this time…" _Renji and Ryuuji chorused, looking mildly disturbed by the fact that Ryoka, who was usually the laziest one, actually did something _productive_ for once.

-;-

There was a comfortable silence that stretched over the huge home that the triplets had to themselves that night. Renji was up in his room doing homework, with Elizabeth curled neatly on one corner of his desk, while Ryuuji was downstairs in the basement games-room with Ryoka, blasting music and battling it out on Mario Kart.

They were the only ones in the house, which was perfectly fine with them; they'd managed to get on just fine without servants or anyone else, really. The funds sent every month from their parents from somewhere in the world was plenty enough to provide them with everything they needed to get by, so there wasn't really any actual reason to work. But nonetheless, Ryuuji was working at an old record shop and Renji was working at the pet shop a couple streets over. Ryoka was still out of work, but he was looking around for something that he could do to pass the time.

Renji yawned, leaning back in his chair and stretching languidly before sitting straight again and stroking the top of Elizabeth's smooth head affectionately, which earned him several little hearts as they popped up around her head.

"I should probably go make sure that those idiot brothers of mine actually manage not to kill each other this time, shouldn't I?" he asked vaguely, half to himself. "What do you think, Elizabeth?"

The python raised her head and nodded once.

"Alright then. You'd better stay here though. I don't want a repeat of last time happening ever again." The blond cooed, lifting the snake into the air and gently taking her over to her tank and placing her back inside. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a few minutes."

The python settled down happily, hearts still bouncing around her head as she watched her master leave the room and close the door quietly behind him.

Oh, how she loved her master…

-;-

"I thought about it a lot last night, and maybe having a lady manager isn't such a bad idea." Tamaki said to the Host Club grouped around him on their various chairs and couches.

"_And why do you say that?" _Hikaru and Kaoru deadpanned.

"Well, it's fairly obvious, isn't it? Renge just transferred into the same class as Haruhi. So if Haruhi has a girlfriend around, it could bring out the female within her. Renge's girlish air of tenderness might be able to stimulate Haruhi's own sense of femininity."

"Good grief." Haruhi grumbled, intruding on Tamaki's own personal theatre in his mind that was broadcasting out behind him for everyone to see.

"Now is our chance to help Haruhi get in touch with her feminine side!" Tamaki declared, standing tall and attempting to pose in what could possibly be something out of a superhero movie. "This is an important project, men!"

The twins crossed their arms and looked vaguely unconcerned about the Host Club King's proclamation. After all, they had plenty of those before, and look where that usually took them.

"She doesn't have any friends in class right now except for these two shady twins. That's no good for her."

Tamaki pointed accusingly at the pair of twins, whose eyes widened. This was certainly a new development in what they had been expecting, for once.

"_Like you have room to talk." _They made an identical face and tilted their heads to the same side at the same time. In the background, the door opened, revealing Renge.

"Hey everyone!" she piped up cheerfully. "You'll be happy to know that your new manager Renge, has baked all of you some cookies!"

"Oh! Isn't she ladylike! I'm so moved by your generosity!" Tamaki flailed, sure to look like some kind of prince in his imagination but in reality looking quite ridiculous.

"I didn't bake these cookies for you, you phony prince." She growled, narrowing her eyes in Tamaki's direction. Actually, it was a little scary to see the transition between the mildly cute girl and the slightly demonic one that replaced her.

"I'm sorry I burnt them a little bit." Renge apologized sheepishly as she offered the cookies to Kyoya, little bright pink hearts floating around her head. "I did the best I could. And I already know what you're going to say."

The girl dissolved into some kind of inner dialogue and swooned, squealing, "Oh, you're always so sweet to me, Kyoya~!"

Honey mumbled something around the cookie that he was now munching on, to which Mori descended upon him and confiscated the questionable substance in case it turned out that it actually wasn't edible and had the chance of poisoning his charge.

At hearing that, however, Renge suddenly whirled, hair resembling snakes as she pursued Honey and Mori, the smaller blond crying out for Mori to save him from the scary lady while Mori simply sighed at the not all unusual behavior.

While everyone was distracted, Haruhi took the opportunity to take one of the cookies and try it, murmuring under her breath, "You know, they're not that bad, actually. They've got good flavor."

The twins, standing right behind her, looked to Tamaki huddled in the corner before a lightbulb lit up between the two of them. Leaning in close, they took the liberty to carefully take a bite of the cookie while it was still between the girl's teeth and clean the crumbs off her cheek by carefully licking them. This, of course, immediately attracted Tamaki's attention, and he straightened like a dog on a scent.

"DID YOU SEE WHAT HE JUST DID HE TOOK A BITE OUT OF THE COOKIE WHILE IT WAS IN HER MOUTH-" Tamaki wailed, pointing and wailing dramatically, while Kyoya remained to the side and taking notes.

All in all, it was a fairly normal day in the Host Club.

Mind, they didn't usually have someone not in the Club observing them, either. Renge was off to one side, haven given up on chasing Honey and Mori around in favor of studying the group closely, one hand resting on her chin as her narrowed eyes took in every little detail.

"LUKEWARM! EXCEPT FOR KYOYA ALL OF YOUR CHARACTERS ARE LUKE-WARM!" the girl finally bellowed after Honey attempted to offer her a mug of milk in a pink mug with a bunny head on it. "Each of you needs to have some sort of dark side, you understand? Girls are more vulnerable to handsome young men who are trouble! If you keep carrying on like this, it's only a matter of time before the girls get tired of you and stop coming altogether! Are you _trying_ to ruin my precious Kyoya's business!? As your manager, it's my duty to change your character backgrounds. Let's start with _you_."

At finding himself under the violent girl's scrutiny, Honey wailed, cringing into Mori's side even further, as if melding himself into the other male would somehow save him from the verbal lashing he was about to get.

"If you're as cute inside and out then you're no different than a baby! Therefore, from now on you're the baby-faced thug! And Mori-sempai, you're his childhood friend; the flunkie! The twins'll be basketball players enslaved in their own world. Haruhi, you're an honors student who is constantly being bullied. And as for you, Tamaki…"

Renge now turned to the Host Club King and leveled a stare at him. "You're the school idol who's admired for your good looks but you actually have an inferiority complex you're hiding from the world; the Lonely Prince."

Tamaki was hit by verbal lightning, and he gasped in horror.

"Ah. And Kyoya, you're perfect just the way you are now. So I want you to stay as kind and affectionate as ever. Kay?" Renge cooed, raising her hands to her cheeks to cover up her blush.

"Why thank you. I'm honored." Kyoya smiled, placing a hand on his chest and bowing slightly. In the background, Tamaki was stumbling around and looking like he was about to keel over and die. However, a spotlight lit up with gold sparkles flashed down on him from above, and then the attention was back on him.

Hikaru and Kaoru sighed, looking at one another and wondering how the hell their sempai thought that this was a good idea.

-;-

Ryuuji was rudely awoken from his nap a couple of days later when there was a roar from somewhere nearby, plus the fact that there was water being dumped on him from above. Flinching, the long haired male looked over the branch he was laying on, only to realize that he couldn't see a damn thing do to the water droplets on his glasses. Growling lowly to himself, he wiped them off on his shirt and continued to look over what was going on, only to sweat drop as he noted that it was just the camera crew that had been wandering the various places on campus, following the Host Club around like their lives depended on it. Although, given that he'd seen how the girl could get in passing yesterday, he wasn't surprised that this was their usual behavior around her.

A smirk suddenly came to his features as he got an idea of what else he could do to irritate the blond girl who seemed to think that she could take over the Academy without anyone's approval but her own. Yawning, he allowed himself to slip out of the tree and right in front of Haruhi, effectively blocking Renge's view of the crossdressing female.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, INTERRUPTING MY SCRIPT! YOU- YOU- oh."

Ryuuji turned to face the girl head on, and as she got a good look of his face, all of her irritation just seemed to leak out of her and turn into a slightly love-stricken expression.

"I was sleeping in this tree, but it seems that you've interrupted my nap." He scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets in an uncharacteristic manner. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to relocate myself to a better location that _won't_ be disturbed by the likes of you."

Everyone else, at this point in time, was wondering just why Renge wasn't totally losing it over the fact that someone other than Kyoya had gotten in the way of the scene and hadn't been ripped to shreds. Not to mention that it also happened to be one of the triplets that Kyoya was determined to recruit to the Host Club.

Said male, at this point in time, was carefully observing Renge's reaction to the Kizuko triplet and jotting down notes in his infamous black notebook, expression, as per usual, unreadable. He was also wondering why the blond wasn't completely freaking out, but, being Kyoya Ootori, he had already come to his own conclusions.

He also didn't miss the fact that the triplet only relocated to a space around the corner of the building, either.

-;-

Once Renge had managed to get her head back in the game, she focused solely on the movie, drawing Haruhi over to one side and gesturing to two tall and gangly looking boys and launching into a long and drawn out monologue that gradually drew everyone's attention to them. Including one Ryuuji Kizuko.

"Wait a minute- Renge-" Haruhi stuttered, trying to ease the girl out of the now very awkward situation that she found herself in. Renge had managed to completely and utterly insult anyone standing in a ten foot radius of her, and was now beginning to drag the two 'punks' over to where she wanted them.

"Hey! You think you can push me around?" one of the students demanded, wrenching himself free from Renge's grip. "You don't even know me!"

With that said, the boy shoved Renge away from him, sending her flying into the wall and several props leaning against said wall.

"Watch out!" Haruhi called, launching herself in between the wall and Renge and preparing to collide with the solid structure. However, what neither girl expected was a gentle bump against the wall instead. Prying open their eyes, they were mildly startled to note that Ryuuji had appeared just in time from above on the windowsill and prevented either of them from hurting themselves.

"You know, Renge, he's right. You really shouldn't judge people you don't know." Ryuuji ground out as he massaged his now bruised stomach and ribs.

"If you judge someone just by appearances, you're stereotyping them and not even trying to get to know the person they truly are." Haruhi finished, sliding down the wall and holding her hand to her face.

"Haruhi, are you alright? What happened-" Tamaki yelled, running around the corner. At seeing Haruhi's tearstained face, however, his jaw clenched with rage.

Before he could lunge at the other student, an arm was extended to prevent him from doing so, and as he growled, trying to shove past, he was met with a pair of startlingly calm green eyes.

"You shouldn't assume something that you don't know the whole story to, Suoh." Ryuuji warned gently. "These guys were provoked by Renge because she was doing the same thing that you are right now- assuming. You can't just assume that you know someone because of their reputation or what they look like. If you do that then you're no better than the rest of the people who do it. Just make sure you remember that in the future."

With that said, the shorter male yawned and stretched, moving over towards the two taller males and pushing past them with a polite nod, shoving his hands into his pockets as he went.

"Let's get out of here!" the pair of males chorused before taking off comically, arms waving wildly above their heads.

Tamaki rushed over to Haruhi to make sure that she was alright, but she was looking down at her finger, which currently contained one of the contacts that she now wore in the place of the bulky glasses that she had originally worn at the beginning of the year.

"My contact fell out." She explained, rubbing at her watering eye.

The moment was ruined moments later by Renge, who was back to being her usual self, and continued into her usual monologue that everyone tuned out anyway, because really, she was a bit annoying. But before any more calls could be made on what to do next, Kyoya himself stepped in, smashing the camera with a decent sized rock and meeting Renge's shocked expression with a blank one of his own.

"But…why?" she asked, looking as though the world was crashing down around her.

"I think you've caused enough trouble around here, Renge." Kyoya said evenly. "You managed to drag in others into your ideas, and that simply won't be allowed around here. You almost caused much more violence than was necessary while you were at it as well. Please stop being such a pest."

Renge dissolved into hysterics after that point, and considering that there was nothing else to be done about the girl's ruined dreams of who she expected Kyoya to be, she simply had to get over the fact that she was getting taught a valuable lesson for the future and move on with her life.

But of course, not every day ended like that one.

-;-

"I'm getting a little annoyed that every single time I take a nap lately I get dragged into all of these really weird events." Ryuuji complained as he splayed himself out on the couch, an icepack pressed against a particularly nasty bruise from Haruhi's elbow on his ribs. "I mean, come on! All I want is a bit of peace and quiet, maybe a half hour of sleep- am I really asking for so much?" the long haired triplet lamented.

Ryoka snorted, glancing up from his newest book, before shaking his head and continuing from where he'd left off. He knew that Ryuuji was just venting, as he was wont to do whenever he became irritated with something or other that happened to him without his approval. Renji nodded with a smirk, petting Elizabeth's head as the python spread herself out on his lap like some kind of dog, tongue nearly lolling out of her mouth as Renji hit a particularly itchy spot.

"Well, maybe you should actually go to class then, if you're having so much trouble dealing with the interference from the other students." Renji drawled.

"Where's the fun in that? You already bring Elizabeth to class with you- there's not a lot more that we can do to the staff before they all resign due to insanity. Unless, of course, you're approving me to go wild and have an all out prank war."

"And if I am?"

"It changes my outlook on school, that's for certain. There's so many more possibilities here…there's the vaulted ceilings, for one. Makes it so much easier to conceal your pranks and yourself should the need ever come about. And then-" Ryuuji continued, getting himself immersed in his prank planning. Renji and Ryoka shared a look before identical smirks crossed their features.

Ouran Academy had no idea what had just been unleashed upon them.


End file.
